Virginia will be the second state to require the HPV vaccine
shots for all sixth grade girls. Texas has the law for fifth graders and
others are making the shots available for free.

New Mexico has also passed a law requiring the vaccine in 6th
grade girls. It awaits the signature of the governor.

The first state to put in the mandatory law has had it
repealed. The Texas legislature has voted to override the governor's
unilateral decision to make the HPV shots mandatory. The Gov could veto
the legislation but thee are enough votes to kill the veto. The
legislature got its nose out of joint for not being asked about this mandatory
law.

A poll by the NY Times shows that the majority of people want
guaranteed health coverage and are willing to pay $500 per year and forfeit al
future tax cuts to finance the program. The people were divided on whether
the government should be the ones who furnish the care or only pay for it.

The GAO Comptroller General stated that the prescription drug
benefit added to Medicare may be the most fiscally unsound legislation ever
passed. He states that due to the increased length of life and the mass of
boomers that will retire the government will have to find new income or decrease
benefits, both politically unsound measures.

MedPAC has spoken regarding physician expenditures by federal
medicine. They gave two alternatives to Congress. Both proposals
would invalidate the current law. One is to find a new expenditure target
that is more reasonable. The other is to scrap the targets all together
and just put in a sustainable growth rate formula.

In a separate report, MedPAC recommends that Medicare HMO
plans be reimbursed at the same rate at the fee for service program.
Presently, the HMOs are getting 12% more than their fee for service brethren.
This would save $64 Billion over five years. Congress states that there
will be no changes in any payment programs this year. This means that
Congress will have to do its usual year end negation of the 5% reduction in
physician payments if they want no limitation on access next year. Some
Congressional Democrats were not happy with the report. They did not want
choices, but an answer. They fail to realize or really do realize that
there are no answers.

To date, only Oregon has physician assisted suicide.
California will consider it in the near future. The American Academy of
Hospice and Palliative Medicine has changed its official stance from
"oppose" to "neutral". The disability people are
against the proposed law since managed care companies will push for suicide
instead of care to save money.

One of my Oregon readers sent me several clippings about their
medical marijuana law. There is work toward a bill in the Oregon
legislature to make it illegal to fire someone for using the drug that is legal
in the state. The ACLU states that tests should not be the determinate
thing, but the ability to function on the job. There is a current case on the
issue before the Oregon Supreme Court, Washburn v Columbia Forest Products.

California has seen the error of its ways in trying to extort
money from medical marijuana users. The massive increase of fees for the
card by the state has been rescinded. No one was going to pay the
money for the cards and the card program would die. They still are raising the
fees but ONLY from $13 to $66 INSTEAD of to $142. This lower fees may
entice some counties to join the state program instead of having their
own.

The feds are going to continue their push against California
distributors of legal medical marijuana because they believe the clinics are
charging more than a reasonable compensation. That is hypocritical.
To the feds even if free it is illegal.

The California Nurse's Ass. is going against its cohorts of
the United HealthCare Workers by joining the AFL-CIO.

Illinois continues to revoke property tax exemptions of non
profit hospitals that are not fulfilling their non profit goals. The
latest one is Richland Memorial in Olney a 65 bed institution. Two days
earlier the tax exemption for Champaign's Carle Clinic was revoked. The
Illinois Hospital Association wants legislative relief instead of doing the
charity care they are supposed to do.

In the People's republic of Massachusetts, a second round of
bidding for the basic health care package in the state has come back Over $100
cheaper per patient per month. The new one is $175 per patient per
month. It will be interesting to see if the insurers will be able to
deliver at that cost. If they can, it would be a major eye opener to the
country as to the cost of healthcare. The Board overseeing the program has
set the monthly fees from $120 to up to $800. The small fees are by the
young adults and the highest by those over 55. Remember, if someone
doesn't sign up for the monthly premiums they only lose about $200 per
year.

The Republic has accepted the seven lowest bids for the
uninsured. The plans have either low premiums and higher co-pays or vice
versa. There are still some that want first dollar coverage and no penalty
if the person doesn't purchase the insurance.

The Bank of America is attempting to help the primary care
physicians who decide to practice in Eastern Massachusetts. They are
giving $5 million total to those physicians who promise to practice for at least
two years in a community health center or Boston Health Center for the
Homeless. The Bank will pay $25,000 per year in medical school debt for
three years for those wo make the commitment. The legislature is so flush
with money that they may kick in an additional $5 million for primary care
physicians.

Trying to catch up with its neighbor, Connecticut is
proposing a 3% tax on physicians revenues. This is to help fund the new
ill thought out universal health coverage for the state. The tax hopes to
generate $600 million of the anticipated $900 million needed to initially fund
this quagmire. As part of the new health plan physicians who care for
Medicaid patients will be paid an additional 30%. This taxes physicians to
pay them their own money.

In Washington, the state Senate passed legislation to get all
in the state to have healthcare insurance. The Democratic Senate conceded
to the Republicans a clause that would allow fewer mandates for small business
employers to purchase insurance.

In the advanced state of Florida, several lawmakers want to
push through a bill requiring all practitioners, not just physicians, to
mandatorily report all pregnancies in girls 16 and under. This is to catch
the bad adults having sex with the willing adolescents. If the practitioner
does not report the girl, the practitioner will lose his license for two
years. This bill will never see the light of day as it's immoral and
probably illegal.

There is a trial period for some selected organizations that
may be eligible to use a new proactive National Practitioners Data Bank
feature. For only $3.25 per practitioner enrolled by the organization they
can be notified if one of the practitioners gets a Bank ding instead of waiting
to query the Bank. The normal fee is $4.75 per name.

In the end of life discussion, Oregon, the only state that allows
physician assisted suicide reports over the ten years the plan has worked
well. California is again bringing up the
subject. Top

Licensure

In

After the above story broke, the Gov stated that the Board
should represent chiropractors. This was criticized by others as not
recognizing that the Boards are there to protect the public. The Gov said
nothing about that aspect but others are saying that saying nothing is the same
as saying something. Although I don't agree with the Board's actions, I
also don't agree with those who put words in someone else's mouth.

DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated
periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the time of publication.
Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers should consult with
their own legal counsel before acting on any of the information presented.